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Report: North Korean repression worsening

Amnesty International is pushing for member states next week at the U.N. Human Rights Council to support an independent commission of inquiry into systematic abuses and crimes against humanity in North Korea.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Amnesty International officials scrutinized new satellite imagery of a notorious North Korean prison camp, what caught their attention was not what was happening inside the fence but outside it.

A network of what appeared to be guard posts enclosing a valley and a small town indicated not an expansion of the sprawling Camp 14, as originally thought, but authorities' control of those living beyond the camp's perimeter.

The rights group says it's another good reason to step up scrutiny of human rights conditions in the secretive nation, with its unparalleled restrictions on citizenry and its vast gulag. Amnesty is pushing for member states next week at the U.N. Human Rights Council to support an independent commission of inquiry into systematic abuses and crimes against humanity in North Korea.

That would add international pressure on Pyongyang, which was hit Thursday with the toughest U.N. sanctions yet for its latest nuclear test. It has responded by unleashing a barrage of threats against the United States and South Korea, which undertake major military exercises in the region next week.

A U.N. special rapporteur on human rights is due to present a report on North Korea to the council in Geneva on Monday. Japan, Europe, the U.S. and South Korea have all indicated support for some kind of enhanced inquiry mechanism, and only half of the 47 member states on the council will need to vote in favor for it to be established.

While it is highly unlikely North Korea would allow investigators into the country, Amnesty says a commission of inquiry would lead a better resourced probe into conditions in the country and could provide a basis for some day bringing perpetrators before the International Court of Justice.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, center, visits the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on April 15 to celebrate the 103rd birthday of his grandfather, the late president Kim Il-Sung, in Pyongyang. KCNA, AFP/Getty Images

Soldiers and citizens rally at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, to protest a United Nations resolution condemning their country's human rights record Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014. Protesters at the rally Tuesday on the square carried banners praising their leaders and condemning the United States. The banner in the center reads: "Let's defend with our lives the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea headed by supreme leader Kim Jong Un." Jon Chol Jin, AP

North Koreans gather in front of a portrait of their late leader Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, right, paying respects to their late leader Kim Jong Il, to mark the third anniversary of his death, Wednesday Dec. 17 at Pyong Chon District in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea marked the end of a three-year mourning period for the late leader Kim Jong Il on Wednesday, opening the way for his son, Kim Jong Un, to put a more personal stamp on the way the country is run. Kim Kwang Hyon, AP

This picture taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 17 shows North Korean people offering prayers before portraits of late leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang for the third anniversary of late leader Kim Jong-Il. Korean News Service via, AFP/Getty Images

This handout picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 9, 2014 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un holding up a boy as he joins a photo session with the participants in the second meeting of Korean People's Army exemplary servicemen's families in Pyongyang. Korean News Service via, AFP/Getty Images

An undated picture from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on December 5, 2014 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting the new year combat and political drill of the Korean People's Army Korean News Service via, AFP/Getty Images

Women sweep around the statues of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sun, left, and Jong Il on the eve of the second anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il on Dec. 16 in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder, AP

Jang Song-thaek is escorted in court on Dec. 12. The uncle of leader Kim Jong Un was executed after a shocking purge, with the state branding the once-powerful man a "traitor." Yonhap via AFP/Getty Images

Thousands of people hold up colored squares as they create a giant North Korean flag as they celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice during a performance at the Rungnado May Day Stadium on July 26 in Pyongyang. Ed Jones, AFP/Getty Images

People hold colored material as they watch for their cue during a performance. One hundred thousand people created a synchronized socialist-realist performance in a 90 minute display of gymnastics, dance and acrobatics. Ed Jones, AFP/Getty Images

North Koreans stand to applaud during the opening night of the "Arirang" mass games performance at Pyongyang's May Day Stadium on July 22. This year's performance was timed to debut for the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. David Guttenfelder, AP

North Korean nurses sing and play the accordion while children dance during an event to start a campaign to give vitamin A supplements and deworming pills to children at a nursery school in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Child Health Day, May 20. UNICEF and North Korean government agencies are collaborating in the campaign to assist 1.7 million children across the country under age 5. David Guttenfelder, AP

North Koreans pass by the outer wall of a construction site where a propaganda billboard depicts the launch of North Korean rockets in Pyongyang, North Korea. The billboard reads: "Let's open up an era to a strong economic country." David Guttenfelder, AP

North Koreans play a board game inside a sauna at the Haedanghwa Health Complex in Pyongyang, North Korea, on May 19. The newly opened complex houses a cooking school, multiple banquet rooms, swimming and wading pools, a billiards room and other spa and recreational facilities. David Guttenfelder, AP

North Korean soldiers and civilians pose for photos April 25 as they tour the grounds of Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum in Pyongyang where the bodies of former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie embalmed. Last month, North Korea marked the 81st anniversary of the founding of its military, which began as an anti-Japanese militia and now has an estimated 1.2 million troops. David Guttenfelder, AP

North Korean soldiers ride in the top of a military truck on a road in Kaesong, North Korea. For weeks, North Korea has threatened to attack the U.S. and South Korea for holding joint military drills and for supporting U.N. sanctions. Washington and Seoul officials said they've seen no evidence that Pyongyang is actually preparing for a major conflict, though South Korean defense officials said the North appears prepared to test-fire a medium-range missile. David Guttenfelder, AP

A North Korean boy practices his lines -- "Our country is the greatest in the world" -- as he is filmed by a local television crew at an exhibition of traditional calligraphy in Pyongyang. David Guttenfelder, AP

A North Korean soldier guarding the entrance to Pyongyang's Kumsusan mausoleum, where the bodies of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie embalmed, looks back through the doors of the main gate Monday, April 15, 2013. North Koreans turned out on Monday to mark the 101st birthday of Kim Il Sung. David Guttenfelder, AP

A North Korean child covers the eyes of her father as she sits on his shoulders watching mass folk dancing in front of Pyongyang Indoor Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. Oblivious to international tensions over a possible North Korean missile launch, Pyongyang residents spilled into the streets Monday to celebrate a major national holiday, the birthday of their first leader, Kim Il Sung. David Guttenfelder, AP

Marathon runners pass by a long row of North Korean soldiers as they cross a bridge in Pyongyang on Sunday, April 14, 2013. North Korea hosted the 26th Mangyongdae Prize Marathon to mark the April 15, 2013 birthday of the late leader Kim Il Sung. David Guttenfelder, AP

A North Korean woman walks past the outer wall of a construction site where a propaganda billboard depicting the launch of North Korean rockets in Pyongyang, North Korea. The billboard reads: "Lets open up an era to a strong economic country." David Guttenfelder, AP

North Korean children hold up red scarves to be tied around their necks during an induction ceremony into the Korean Children's Union, the first political organization for North Koreans, held at a stadium in Pyongyang on Friday, April 12, 2013. David Guttenfelder, AP

North Koreans dance together beneath a mosaic painting of the late leader Kim Il Sung during a mass folk dancing gathering in Pyongyang Thursday, April 11, 2013, to mark the anniversary of the first of many titles of power given to leader Kim Jong Un after the death of his father Kim Jong Il. David Guttenfelder, AP

North Korean children carrying brooms walk on a sidewalk in Pyongyang on their way to help tidy up the area around bronze statues of the late leaders as the capital city prepares to mark the April 15 birthday of its founder Kim Il Sung. David Guttenfelder, AP

A North Korean soldier passes by roadside propaganda depicting a North Korean soldier killing a U.S. soldier in Pyongyang. The poster reads in Korean "Life or Death Battle. Merciless Punishment to U.S. Imperialists and Puppet Traitors." David Guttenfelder, AP

Reflected in the airport building glass, passengers disembark from North Korea's Air Koryo flight as they arrive at the Pyongyang International airport on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. David Guttenfelder, AP

A North Korean soldier works at a computer terminal under portraits of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il inside the Grand People's Study House in Pyongyang on March 12. David Guttenfelder, AP

A children's pop-up book, displayed by a teacher March 9 at at Kaeson Kindergarten in Pyongyang, depicts a U.S. soldier killing a Korean woman with a hatchet. For North Koreans, the systematic indoctrination of anti-Americanism starts as early as kindergarten. David Guttenfelder, AP

A Mercedes rides along a street in central Pyongyang. The U.N. Security Council responded swiftly to North Korea's Feb. 12 nuclear test by punishing the reclusive regime Thursday with new sanctions that target the communist nation's economy and leadership. Pyongyang responded with the threat of a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States. David Guttenfelder, AP

An image depicting a female North Korean soldier leading an attack is projected on a screen behind performers during a concert in Pyongyang marking International Women's Day. The text at the top of the screen reads, "We are the General's female coastal artillery troops." Jon Chol Jin, AP

North Koreans rally March 7 at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang in support of a government statement Tuesday that vowed to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War. The statement also boasted of North Korea's ownership of "lighter and smaller nukes" and its ability to execute "surgical strikes" meant to unify the divided Korean Peninsula. Jon Chol Jin, AP

Well-wishers wave flower bouquets as buses carrying North Korean nuclear scientists and other officials pass by in Pyongyang. Scientists and other officials involved in the North's underground nuclear test on Feb. 12 arrived in the capital city Feb. 20 to a celebration. Jon Chol Jin, AP

A North Korean portrait photographer instructs soldiers to pose for a picture under a mosaic of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at an exhibition in Pyongyang on Feb. 17, where Kimjongilia flowers, named after Kim Jong Il, were on display. David Guttenfelder, AP

A musical performance is held in Pyongyang with the words "Let's strike the imperialists mercilessly with the same success we had carrying out the 3rd nuclear test" projected on a screen. David Guttenfelder, AP

Female North Korean traffic officers gather in Pyongyang near bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to commemorate what would have been the 71st birthday of Kim Jong Il, who died Dec. 17, 2011. David Guttenfelder, AP

Children play with the camera of an Associated Press photographer as people gather in front of bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang on Feb. 16. David Guttenfelder, AP

A poster showing a model of North Korea's Unha-3 Rocket hangs in the lobby of a hotel in Pyongyang in Feb. North Korea is upgrading one of its two major missile launch sites, apparently to handle much larger rockets. David Guttenfelder, AP

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"The focus on North Korea right now is on its provocative statements and threats of nuclear strikes. As scary as that prospect is, it's an extraordinarily remote possibility," Frank Jannuzi , deputy executive director of Amnesty International USA, told reporters Friday in Washington.

"What is certain is the human tragedy faced by North Koreans every day," Jannuzi said.

A third of North Korean children are chronically malnourished, according to the U.N., and up to 200,000 people are held in political prison camps, many simply because they are related to those deemed unfriendly to the authoritarian regime.

The best-selling book "Escape from Camp 14" by author Blaine Harden has shed light onto one corner of the gulag. It tells of Shin Dong-hyuk, who was born in the camp, endured forced labor and torture, then at age 23 managed to escape through its electrified fence and eventually reached the West.

Amnesty said it commissioned the satellite images and analysis of the area, which lies 43 miles north of Pyongyang, from commercial provider Digital Globe. It found that North Korea has constructed a 12.5-mile perimeter, much of it on steep terrain, next to the camp to encircle a valley that contains mines, orchards and a small town. While the perimeter is marked by posts and not a fence, there is controlled access and some 20 guard towers that are more concentrated near the town than the camp.

"What's most worrisome is that it seems to expand the scope of control beyond the formal boundaries of the prison camp," said Jannuzi.

Still, Jannuzi, a former U.S. congressional staffer who has been to North Korea several times, said the country is not the "black box" it's often made out to be. Foreign charities and aid groups operate there, and there is some tourism.

Jannuzi predicted the mounting international pressure on North Korea over its rocket and nuclear tests, while justified, will lead to a "hardening of views and tightening of controls" there and will set back hopes of an incremental opening.

"Times of military tension and escalation are always bad for us trying to do work to promote human rights," he said.